Strong earthquake hits off Myanmar—US seismologists

NEW DEHLI—A strong, 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck in the north of India’s Andaman Islands, off Myanmar at 10:24 p.m. (1654 GMT) Tuesday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

No destructive tsunami was expected, monitoring stations said.

The USGS placed the epicenter of the quake at a depth of 45.4 kilometers (28.2 miles) and at a point 217 kilometers (135 miles) north of Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman islands.

The epicenter was also 406 kilometers (252 miles) southwest of Pathein and 500 kilometers (310 miles) southwest of Yangon, both in Myanmar.

A bulletin issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center to government agencies said that the quake posed no “destructive widespread tsunami” threat.

“The situation is normal and no tsunami alert has been issued,” Andaman Chief Secretary Vivek Ray told India’s NDTV television from Port Blair.

“There has been no loss of life or property. The only injuries were two people who jumped from a roof after the tremor,” Ray said.

In Dhaka, Bazlur Rashid, a meteorologist at Bangladesh’s weather office, said they were aware of “a very small chance of a local tsunami in the Indian Ocean area.”

Bangladesh lies on the northern shore of the Andaman Sea, facing the earthquake’s epicenter, but, Rashid said, “we are not issuing a tsunami warning for Bangladesh, we are not concerned.”

The earthquake was felt as far away as Hong Kong, around 2,500 kilometers (1,500 miles) to the east, where the Hong Kong Observatory said it had recorded an “intense earthquake” with a magnitude of 6.4.

Source : http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20100331-261729/Strong-earthquake-hits-off-MyanmarUS-seismologists